Connery, the Oscars and his Bond perfotmances

Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
edited February 2021 in General James Bond Chat
I'm just watching 'The Untouchables' on TV, for the first time in quite a while. Connery deservedly won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in this movie. He brings a range of emotion to his performance as Jimmy Malone, giving even his co-star DeNiro a run for his money in the acting stakes. But this tour de force leaves me reflecting, again, on how Connery's performances as Bond were rated, relatively speaking. They were never recognised by the Academy. Does a comparison of Bond with Malone expose the narrow limitations of the OO7 role, indicating how Connery could never have showcased his range of acting skills in the Bond movies? I think the opposite. I think that when we see the range of which Connery was capable, in movies like 'The Hill', 'The Offence' and 'The Untouchables', we should appreciate all the more how his restraint as Bond was a fine actor's choice, a performance full of light nuance and subtle shifts in gear: genre-appropriate; never phoned in (except for in parts of YOLT, perhaps); a studied, underestimated exercise in consummate cool. As Charlie Higson once commented: forget 'The Untouchables'; Connery should have won an Oscar for his performances as Bond, period!
Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.

Comments

  • Charmed & DangerousCharmed & Dangerous Posts: 7,358MI6 Agent
    Couldn't agree more, Shady. Connery's nuanced performances as Bond were superb. The scene where Goldfinger suggests that Bond wager the gold bar on the outcome of their golf match, and the subtly nervous look which Connery gives when he thinks no one is looking, is a perfect example. I doubt many other actors of his generation would have been capable of the range and restraint which Connery gave as Bond. -{
    "How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises."
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,239MI6 Agent
    You don't get Oscars for roles like that.

    Someone said they liked John Travolta's performance in Get Shorty better than any other that year - someone in authority I mean, not just us lot - but if it's a funny comedic role in a blockbuster you don't get a nomination.
    Maybe Dustin Hoffman in Tootise but he's established as an Oscar-winner already probably, okay The Graduate is comedic.

    That's not to say I disagree with Shady, though which one would we go for? Goldfinger really. I mean, DAF sort of puts me in mind of Walther Matthau in a film like Taking of Pelham... although did he get a nomination for that?
    It's not cut and dried I agree.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
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